: Hi Mike,

: I was always a Raka guy--my brother worked with the owner of
: Montana Boatbuilders back in the early 90's...I think I was the
: guy who introduced Raka to the KBBB in about 97. :) ...but it's
: more expensive now. It's also the only one I've ever used--but
: probably at least 10 gallons of the stuff.

: I'm guessing your comment directed at USC is that it doesn't wet
: out the glass well? I'd like to hear your comments..I do plan to
: have some epoxy leftover after this project, and would love to
: know if it has less-desirable properties.

: Plan for the oars is to pre-wet both sides of the joints with
: unthickened epoxy, then laminate with epoxy thickened with
: silica fume, and lightly clamped. I'll put glass on the tips,
: but could care less about the appearance. By the time you lay up
: a half-dozen layers, it's getting cloudy, and you get some
: trapped bubbles despite your best intentions.

: I'll have to throw up a pic of my old oars.

: I'm glad you've found the "Q-USA" mitts handy. I still
: use mine when I get into spring whitewater. I usually find that
: they're too hot, and occasionally rinse the inside with cold
: water. :D

Well, I'm a West guy- I was born in their home town. I used West and USC on the same project, so it was an honest back-to-back use. USC wet out the fabric well enough, clarity wasn't necessary, but it was sticky, so a bit harder to work with. Like- molasses and 90wt gear oil may have the same viscosity, but if you put both on a piece of glass the oil would wipe right off, but the molasses would be difficult... sticky. And it makes me uncomfortable that it dissolved the plastic mixing cups I used before it started to heat up and cure, whereas the West had no effect on them. Although cure time was about the same (USC Medium and 105/207) the USC didn't want to stay put on gravity-challenged surfaces. I don't know that any of these things will matter when you use it as glue with a thixotropic thickening agent.

To be honest... I was sick all week and didn't think I was going to go on the trip so I finished the mitts at 2 a.m. the night before I left. I used contact cement, but I find that stuff still likes to cure a while. I was sweating until I opened up tiny holes in the seam at the back of the thumb. It let in a tiny bit of water, but the cuffs were under the cuffs of my dry top so it didn't get into my arms, just cooled off my hands. I could not be happier with them. I'm going to put it back together and put in a couple of stitches and they'll be fine.

So there you go.

m